1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to estimating the mass properties of designed products. More specifically, to creating workable models and generating reports showing these properties using legacy data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Estimation of mass data is an integral part of the conceptual design of new aircraft. The part count on a typical business jet is in the hundreds of thousands. Tens of thousands of engineering hours are invested to build accurate mass properties databases of an aircraft to support weight control and structural analyses efforts during project development.
Conceptual design processes have historically been constrained by time to rely on a few dozen parametric equations for extrapolating weight of major components and systems and the development of simplified computer aided design (CAD) and finite element model (FEM) models to generate quasi-distributed analysis models. This process required relatively long lead times to generate mass properties with adequate quality for Design and Analysis processes for single design iterations, and rarely was able to meet requirements to quickly review design alternatives.
The integrity of mass properties estimates directly impact the ability of a proposed aircraft design to meet its performance and mission requirements. Traditional methods often result in sub-optimal design decisions as many detail nuances spanning distinctly different design approaches are overlooked. Inaccuracies inherent to these methods carry heavy penalties leading to compromises, costly engineering changes, increased potential aircraft ballast requirements, reduced payload and performance, leading ultimately to reduced sales and project profitability.
There is a need in the art for an alternative to these conventional processes which eliminates dependence on parametric data models for estimating component weights and the need to create CAD and FEM representations of proposed aircraft to estimate mass property distributions. Instead engineers devote more time toward reviewing a greater number of alternate design approaches and optimizing design performance.
There is also a need for a process which reduces the risks in the process by providing credible distributed mass properties to accurately reflect changes caused by design permutations. Delays caused by permutations historically can take weeks. And the resulting mass models are seldom as robust as desired. Inaccuracies in these mass models drive decisions toward off-optimal designs which negatively impact other analyses and flight vehicle performance, and conventional weight and balance issues are often not identified until late in the development program causing late reengineering efforts.